


watch him

by inarizaki (xixuwus)



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst, Jealousy, M/M, thats all I really got for you
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:07:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24210325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xixuwus/pseuds/inarizaki
Summary: “was it jealousy... tobio-kun?”
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Hinata Shouyou/Miya Atsumu
Comments: 16
Kudos: 332





	watch him

**Author's Note:**

> this was inspired by [neroinkboi](https://twitter.com/neroinkboi) on twitter’s angst art, which you can find [here](https://twitter.com/neroinkboi/status/1257384907686531075?s=21)
> 
> I have literally not stopped thinking about it, so I wrote a thing. check out more of their art! they’re really cool and nice and super talented!
> 
> also thank you to my friends who beta’d for me, I couldn’t have done this without you guys~

atsumu helps hinata bandage his fingers after the game, taking care to disinfect the small cuts so they would heal faster.

“those spikes were nasty, weren’t they?” hinata says. “they felt so cool to block! I can’t believe I got them! wow, what an amazing game—kageyama always puts up such a good fight when we play, right? what do you think, atsumu? that was a great game, right?”

hinata’s eyes sparkle the way an auburn sunset reflects over a clear, blue ocean, golden shimmers against a rippling surface of adventure and vast wonderment. the ginger is always excited, but with kageyama around, he’s more excitable than usual.

“tell me about it,” he says with a practiced smile. he wonders if hinata can clue in on his condition the way atsumu does with everyone else. perhaps it’s because he’s trained to be a setter and has learned to read people’s body language a lot more closely, or just call it his natural talent, but atsumu has always kept an eye on hinata’s and kageyama’s conditions and keying in on their thoughts. the two of them, their thoughts are so loud and stifling. it’s always

_toss to me!_

_look at me!_

_chase me!_

_catch up to me!_

they’re tiring.

but they’re interesting, nonetheless. does kageyama even realize the conversation he’s having?

kageyama had stepped onto that court with a purpose, but atsumu doesn’t think it was to win. despite each side of the court having six players each, this was a one-on-one match between kageyama and hinata, and kageyama’s body language made that very clear. he came to meet a long-lost lover. he made every toss to the left where hinata was, glanced at hinata to make sure he was following. kageyama put on the music, and hinata followed with a dance, leaping here and there to answer kageyama’s calls and match up with his twirls. every spike, every bump, hinata was listening to where kageyama wanted the ball to go even if he didn’t know it.

atsumu was the one who decided he wanted to join in on the fun. after all, this was not a one-on-one match, and there was more than one way to score points on the opposing team. kageyama may not be an open book when it comes to his form, but he wore his heart on his sleeve.

and perhaps it wasn’t totally objective the way that atsumu put his arm around hinata every time he made a good spike or gave him a look of adoration every time he got a nice dig, but it was priceless to see each and every pin stick into kageyama’s exposed heart.

every time kageyama appeared in front of hinata, atsumu was there next to him, eyes boring into kageyama’s deep blue ones. he fell into step with kageyama and hinata, and then he swept the rug from under kageyama’s feet, but hinata knew which floorboards would squeak and which were safe. after all, he and atsumu were partners now.

it was wearing on him, atsumu’s interference. a once-smooth dance between two old rivals and ~~unbeknownst soulmates~~ friends became a dance with a stranger stepping on their toes and disrupting a unique flow. atsumu kept pausing their playlist and stealing hinata away, one move at a time.

kageyama no longer kept his eyes on hinata, only on atsumu. was this what it was like for shoyo? was this what it felt like to capture the gaze of kageyama tobio? perhaps it’d feel grander if it weren’t for the fact that atsumu was the one pushing and pulling tobio here and there. he was the one leading this dance. left, right, up—a set would be the proper thing here, it felt right; it felt good. shoyo was behind atsumu, ready to strike, but atsumu didn’t hear any calls from him—no _bring it here!_ ah…maybe that was the difference between atsumu and kageyama.

he dumped it, watched it hit beside kageyama’s feet. atsumu can hear the curse in kageyama’s thoughts, berating himself. despite how hard he watched for atsumu, his eyes were still on hinata.

“tobio-kun,” atsumu called.

kageyama glared at him through the squares of the net, brows furrowed, shoulders tense. atsumu can see the blood dripping down his wrist—that poor heart of his must be breaking already.

“I’ll set to hinata next. watch him.”

 _watch him. watch the way I’ll set this ball for him with care and love. watch how much better I can give him sets. watch the way his eyes light up, the way he adores my sets. watch how much better he is with_ me.

kageyama knew about atsumu’s talent for acclimating to any spiker to the point where spikers thought they were getting better. atsumu’s compatibility was a feat achieved by a natural talent of understanding people—something kageyama always had trouble with but never with hinata. maybe kageyama thought he and hinata were on another level, that they were special to each other.

atsumu wanted to prove him wrong.

he never took his eyes off of kageyama; atsumu wanted to see his reaction to hinata following atsumu’s steps, the way they moved together, breathed together. did kageyama ever achieve that with hinata? he must miss those moments of clarity, when hinata made a home inside of kageyama’s ribcage.

hinata hit atsumu’s next set with glee and enthusiasm, one that atsumu was sure kageyama had only ever seen him be so happy about when kageyama set for him. time has passed, dear tobio. things changed. people changed.

hinata changed. kageyama, out of everyone, should’ve known that no one ever plays the same hinata twice.

in the next serve, atsumu realized he may have pushed kageyama a bit too far. his set was aggressive, pinpoint perfect, and his spiker slammed it without remorse. the whistle hadn’t blown yet, but atsumu already knew what had happened, rushed over to hinata and cradled his hand.

“it’s not too bad,” hinata hissed.

“you sure you don’t want to tape it?” atsumu asked, taking hinata’s hand and running his fingers over hinata’s palms, inspecting his fingers. he can feel kageyama’s eyes boring into the base of his skull.

“I’ll be fine. it just stung a little.”

little cuts here and there. it was cruel of atsumu and kageyama to fight using shoyo, throwing him here to spike, forcing him to jump there to block. kageyama’s sets didn’t ease up—set after set, harder and harder. he must be frustrated, seeing his spiker hit for another setter, seeing his once-middle blocker block him from scoring as well. it was equally frustrating for atsumu to watch his own spiker responding to an opposing setter too. hinata was playing on atsumu’s side, but he somehow was able to dance to two tunes, still falling into line with kageyama’s steps—maybe it was habit, maybe it was otherworldly.

atsumu is pulled out of his reverie when hinata lays his head onto atsumu’s shoulder.

“let me rest for a little bit,” he says, snuggling into his neck.

“I told you, you should’ve taken it easy earlier today,” atsumu says, leaning his cheek against hinata’s soft hair. it must’ve taken a lot of hinata’s energy to play against kageyama. it’s not easy to tire someone like hinata.

“what’s the fun in that?” hinata giggles. “besides, it’s always fun to play against kageyama.”

hinata’s breathing evens out almost immediately as he falls asleep on atsumu’s shoulder. atsumu stares at hinata’s fingers, heart throbbing as he sees the blood from the cuts already start to seep through the bandages. he reaches over and holds hinata’s hands, tangles their fingers together as he moves closer for hinata.

the door to the gym opens, and atsumu glares at the newcomer.

he and kageyama don’t say anything, exchanging conversation in only hard glares and smirks.

“fast asleep, right?” atsumu says, the smirk on his lips nearly permanent. kageyama approaches almost cautiously, hands stuffed deep in his pockets, brows furrowed. his eyes are trained on atsumu’s and hinata’s hands.

“I noticed you’ve been way too aggressive in our recent match,” atsumu continues. “he ended up enduring a few cuts and injuries from your spikes.” atsumu raises his and hinata’s conjoined hands to show kageyama a better view. atsumu brings hinata’s hand up to his lips and gives his fingers a soft kiss, one that barely grazes atsumu’s lips, but kageyama’s breath hitches anyways and atsumu knows he’s won that round.

atsumu pauses, waits to see if kageyama will say anything, but he doesn’t, so atsumu continues for him: “you know damn well that I hate it when my spiker is in bad shape. You should at least tell me what’s behind all this.”

kageyama looks at atsumu now, and atsumu locks their eyes together. kageyama’s blue eyes are cold and vast, deep. if you didn’t control yourself, you could easily get lost in that expanse, a deep galaxy that was the gateway into the mind of a genius—but atsumu knew where to look for information and tells. he had jabbed at his heart all game just to see that fire in kageyama’s eyes, but in the aftermath, there was only heartbreak and a still ocean that refused to give up its secrets.

but it’s easy to tell what kageyama is feeling.

“was it jealousy… tobio-kun?”

kageyama stares at atsumu for a long second before he turns his head away. blood drips onto the floor of the gym—ah… his heart has broken. this is regret.


End file.
